Background
There is a need to reexamine Singapore’s medical school curricula in light of the increasing digitalization of healthcare. Notwithstanding Singapore’s digital competitiveness, there is a perceived gap in preparing its medical students for the digital age. Furthermore, limited research has evaluated the extent to which skills in using digital technologies should be taught to medical students in Asian medical schools to prepare them for future clinical practice- a gap that is filled by this study. Using Singapore as a case study, it explores the views of some local clinical educators and teachers towards the need to impart skills in digital technologies to medical students. It also offers recommendations on ways to balance the clinicians’ concerns about these technologies with the digital competencies needed for clinical practice.
Methods
Findings were drawn from individual interviews with 33 clinical educators and teachers from Singapore’s public and private healthcare sectors. They were recruited using purposive sampling. Data were interpreted using qualitative thematic analysis.
Results
Participants included vice deans of education from all three local medical schools and senior consultants from a wide variety of disciplines. Overall, they acknowledged two benefits of equipping students with skills in digital technologies including promoting the culture of innovation and improving work efficiency. However, they also highlighted four main concerns of imparting these skills: (i) erosion of basic clinical skills, (ii) neglect of a generalist approach to healthcare characterized by holistic management of patients, inter-professional collaboration, and commitment to breadth of practice within each specialty, (iii) rapid pace of technological advances, and (iv) de-personalisation by technology.
Conclusions
The findings show that medical students in Singapore would benefit from a curriculum that teaches them to use digital technologies alongside core clinical skills.
Background
Singapore needs more family doctors to care for its ageing population and their chronic conditions. While there is a shifting of care from acute care settings to more community care, this has not been reflected in the primary care training in local medical schools. Furthermore, no research has explored how different aspects of the medical school curricula in Singapore influence students’ perceptions of careers in General Practice and Family Medicine- a gap that is filled by this study.
Methods
Six focus groups involving 54 students from all three medical schools in Singapore were conducted. Discussions focused on their primary care experience, their professional and career aspirations, and perceptions towards the opportunities and challenges of primary care careers. Qualitative content analysis was used to interpret the data.
Results
The respondents shared eight key concerns of pursuing primary care careers including limited professional opportunities, emphasis on lifestyle benefits rather than professional characteristics, need for business acumen, conflicts created by business in clinical care, mundane case mix, lack of continuity of care, limited consultation time, and specialists’ negative attitudes towards family doctors. The positive views articulated included the opportunities for entrepreneurialism and a portfolio career, breadth of clinical problems presented, and an improved future for primary care.
Conclusions
Improving students’ perceptions of careers in primary care in Singapore would benefit from a concerted effort from multiple stakeholders; medical schools, healthcare providers, professional and regulatory bodies, and government.
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